Aquanauts 5 at Gulf Champs

Volume 4, No 2
February, 2003
www.swimaqua.org
Bay Area Aquanauts
Houston, TX 77062
Hotline 281-488-1582
“Turning Potential into Performance”
th
Aquanauts 5 at Gulf Champs
Bay Area
Aquanauts
President
Harold Johnston
Vice-President
Ken Baliker
Treasurer
Susan Joines
Secretary
Paul Russo
Directors
Barb Kolodgie
Mike McElhany
Ed Mullery
Christine Swaney
Meet Entries
Kelli Baliker
Head Coach
Jennifer Johnston
A
t the Gulf Champs Meet Dec
13-15,
AQUA
swimmers
improved in their events at a
75% rate. Swimmers of the
Meet, with 7 best times in 7
events, were Ellen Lobb and
Adam Olszeski. Ellen was also presented
the meet high point award for the 10-&under girls. Other AQUA swimmers with
100% improvement in the meet were John
Christopher (5), Christie Latimer (5), Aaron
Olszeski (6), and Adriana Sepulveda (6).
There were three new Top 16 times, two by
the medley and free relay combination of
Caroline Baliker, Ellen Lobb, Adriana
Sepulveda, and Julia Sepulveda, and
another by Ellen in the 100 IM. In addition,
there were 12 new TAGS times by John
Christopher (1), Jenny Claydon (3), Mark
Grijalva (2), Christie Latimer (1), Aaron
Olszeski (2), and Adam Olszeski (3). An
incredible number (43) of new team records
were set at the meet, including 11-12 girls
400 free relay (Kacie Baker, Jenny Claydon,
Caroline
McElhany,
and
Katharine
Silkowski), 11-12 girls 400 medley relay
(Kacie, Jenny, Caroline, and Christie
Latimer), 11-12 boys 400 free and medley
relays (Jonathan Berezin, Cole Cragin,
Taylor Cryan, and Mark Grijalva), 13-14 girls
400 free and medley relays (Kim Anton,
Sierra Dyer, Lynn Fahey, and Jennifer
Joines), 13-14 boys 400 free and medley
relays (John Christopher, Aaron Olszeski,
Adam Olszeski, and Justin Russo), and
individually
Kacie Baker
(1),
John
Christopher (2), Jenny Claydon (3), Cole
So far I’ve lost 30 seconds on the Swimfast plan.
Cragin (4), Lynn Fahey (3), Mark Grijalva
(3), Ellen Lobb (1), Caroline McElhany (6),
Aaron Olszeski (3), Adam Olszeski (7), and
Julia Sepulveda (2)
UPCOMING MEETS
If you have not gotten in on the meet action,
please consider it. We’ve had great team
showings in the numbers of swimmers
participating, sportsmanship, and fast times.
Our next meets will be Gulf Champs Dec 1315, and both 11 & Up and 10 & Under Open
meets in January. Check the calendar and
bulletins at the pools for meet formats and
entry deadlines.
Meet information, entry forms, and
invitations are available at both pools
typically three weeks prior to each meet.
You can now “eEnter” meets with the on-line
meet entry form and email link to Kelli
Baliker available on the team website.
Contact any of the coaches or Kelli at (281)
with
488-3943
or
[email protected]
questions
about
meets
and
entry
procedures.
Procedures are also now available in our
draft team handbook at www.swimaqua.org.
It is always best to enter by the team
deadline, so that Kelli can submit entries
electronically and notify the coaches early to
prepare the kids for their events. Advance
entry fees are also typically one-half the cost
of entering “on-deck” the day of the meet.
Bay Area Aquanauts
February, 2003
CALLING ALL OFFICIALS
TEAM HANDBOOK ON-LINE
Meet schedules have never been more
taxing on the limited number of available
officials in Gulf Swimming. AQUA would like
to know who among us has officiated before
(stroke & turn, start, and referee) in other
leagues or LSC’s, and would be willing to
volunteer and train as an official at Gulf
meets.
Parents should begin to consult the team
handbook now posted on the website. It is
currently a draft, under revision, but most
parts are fairly complete. If you have a
question about the handbook or have
suggestions as to content, please contact
either Ed Mullery or Paul Russo.
AQUA will be required to begin providing a
limited number of officials at meets
beginning Feb 1. So far, three parents have
expressed interest, but many hands make
light work.
“eAQUA” ON-LINE MEET ENTRY
Let’s share this volunteer effort to lighten the
load on everyone. Contact any coach if you
have an interest in officiating.
THIS NEWSLETTER ON-LINE
There are now three ways to obtain a copy
of this informative monthly newsletter:
•
•
•
It is posted on our www.swimaqua.org
website.
It is available by request to Marcy Barr
by email.
A limited number of hard copies will be
available at each practice location.
Refer to the newsletter often to keep up with
team events and information items.
In an effort to make it easier than ever to
complete your meet entries, AQUA
announces the “eAQUA” website-based
electronic meet entry form, if you so desire
to utilize it. The online entry form will be
made available for each meet as soon as
meet entry information is posted on the Gulf
website.
When you "submit" the form, you will receive
a Confirmation Page you can print out, AND
it automatically sends Kelli Baliker an email
with the info you entered. It will also NOT let
you submit unless you have filled in all
pertinent info, like name, age, USA ID#, total
entry fees owed, etc. A built-in calculator will
even figure your entry fee total for you.
The form, of course, works hand-in-hand
with the new prepaid meet entry account
system, if you desire to utilize THAT feature,
but you may still pay by cash or check
the “old-fashioned way” and use this
electronic meet entry form. You simply
indicate on the new form how you will pay.
This eAQUA system virtually eliminates all
paper handling when entering and paying for
a meet entry! New entry forms will be posted
for every meet and will be tailored to that
meet. Links to meet-specific forms are
indicated in the “Upcoming Meets” section of
the website.
Next AQUA Board Meeting
Tuesday, February 11, 2003 — 8:30 pm
Gloria Dei Church — Nassau Bay
The Surgeon General states: It's OK to smoke the competition.
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Bay Area Aquanauts
February, 2003
Meet entry fee account system
AQUA has made optional meet entry fee accounts available to our members as a convenience.
Accounts are set up and tracked by our treasurer Susan Joines, and they work something like
pre-paid EZTag toll road accounts. Members open accounts by paying, for example, $50 toward
future meet entry fees, and then draw on the account over time. Susan will send a notice when
the account balance drops below the amount of a typical meet entry. Some folks have even used
the account to pay for AQUAstore purchases. Your choice.
We think this might be most convenient to families that email meet entries or use the new
“eAQUA” on-line meet entry form, or to anyone not typically on-deck at practice around the time
entries are due. We also hope this will make the meet entry process easier to do in advance,
avoiding higher cost of entering “on-deck” the day of the meet.
AQUAstore: New T-shirts, sweats
Check out all the new AQUAwear on the
team website, including the new shirt and
sweatshirt. Team items are usually
available at each practice pool and meets,
including rear window decals and team
swim caps.
Front-side lettering
on sweatshirt and T-shirt
All apparel items are provided at cost, so
get into short course season by proudly
(and economically) displaying your AQUA
caps, decals and apparel items.
Back design of new T-shirt
Kroger mini-Share Cards
AQUA now has mini (ultra convenient) Kroger Share Card stickers that may be used on your key
chain Kroger Card. These work the same as the business card style we have been using. Simply
have the cashier swipe the bar code on the card at checkout, and Kroger will
donate 1% of the purchase amount to AQUA. If you have had a problem
with the bar code wearing off, Susan, Marcy and Barb have plenty of
replacements, and should be available on deck at practices. Otherwise, you
might try laminating your existing card.
This program, along with the similar Randall’s program (simply have a
cashier or customer service person code our Good Neighbor number 9266
into your Randall’s card), has become a high-impact, low-effort fundraising
vehicle for AQUA and the benefits have helped AQUA maintain low training
fees. We currently receive about $50 per month between the two
programs. That’s a nice benefit, but still short of our goal of $100 per month. Keep using the
cards, and benefit AQUA at no cost to you.
If I have but one day to live, let me spend it at a swim meet — they last forever!
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Bay Area Aquanauts
February, 2003
How many pizzas
can one team eat?
Not only do Aquanauts drop time in the pool, but it also seems that 100% of our kids devoured
pizza faster than at the fall social last year. This year, the big event was Jan 5 at La Porte pool.
Thank you to all the parent organizers and families that donated door prizes.
See pictures of the event on our www.swimaqua.org website.
Training fee remittances
Please remember the correct address to which your monthly training fee remittances should be
sent:
Bay Area Aquanauts
15403 Pleasant Valley
Houston, TX 77062
Mailing assures [pending the efficiency the US Postal Service] that your payment will not get
misplaced if hand-delivered at the pools.
Luck is what you have left over after you give 100%
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